A Bottomless Book Bag

This is the tumblr associated with A Bottomless Book Bag, a book blog. This is me fangirling over my favorite tv shows, movies, actors/actresses, and books... oh and crossposts from my blog :)

[noonelikesaquaman-deactivated20]

I can really relate to Newt haha animals are wayyy easier to talk to than people :3

[abottomlessbookbag]

The Boy Is Back

I’ve loved reading Meg Cabot books since I was 13, but it’s just been this past year that I’ve started getting into her adult fiction. And The Boy Is Back didn’t disappoint! Thanks so much to Lauren from Bookmark Lit for including it as part of my Secret Santa gift!

5 Reasons to Read The Boy Is Back

The Quips – This book was pretty hilarious in general, but a lot of that was because Reed had so many quick quips and a lot of them where feminist gems of awesomeness. I loved seeing a male love interest that came off so put together and caring whether it was about his niece having the right to wear whatever she wants or putting others in their place for saying something that was slightly sexist.

The Family Struggles – Seeing parents or grandparents get old and do crazy stuff with their money and lifestyle can be equal parts heart-wrenching and frustrating, and I feel like it’s a struggle that many experience at some point in their life either as the kid who has to clean up the mess that their parents make, or as the parent. I definitely saw it happen with my grandparents, and it’s something that I worry about with my own parents as they get older.

The Format – This book is told via emails, texts, online reviews, and a blessings journal. I’ve loved reading books like this in the past, but I feel like this might be the first time I’ve seen it in adult fiction, and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes with books the im-ing can feel a little out of touch or too ridiculous with all the abbreviations, but I didn’t feel that way at all with this format.

The Sibling Relationships – The sister dynamics between Becky and Nicole, especially the back and forth banter and nagging, was a lot of fun to read. But I also liked seeing Marshall, Reed, and Trimble’s interactions, especially since there were sibling-in-laws involved. Carly, Marshall’s wife, was definitely one of my favorite characters because she’s just watching all this crap go down with Reed’s parents, and is the first one to step up and start addressing the problem.

The Small Town Hijinks – Everything takes place is this cute little town where everyone knows each others business and everyone pretty much has their own small business or works in town. There are quirky characters like Becky’s mom who boycotts another restaurant in town, and Reed’s parents who get up to all kinds of mischief inside and outside their house.

The Boy Is Back was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week we list our top 10 book-related things. This week is Top Ten Best Books of 2016, and I’m doing the best of everything I read this year (excluding rereads).

2016 has been a rougher reading year then I’d like to admit, BUT that doesn’t mean I didn’t read some AMAZING books this year. I actually thought I was going to struggle to find 10 books, but guess what 2016, you can’t knock me down. I have ELEVEN.

Best Books of 2016

I think I’m going to try to hand out awards/best of’s for these books because why not?

   (1) Everything, Everything  and (2) The Sun is Also a Star Best Contemporaries and Diverse Reads of the year Though, for The Sun is Also a Star specifically – Best 24 hrs in NYC book and best book with unique POVs

(3) Days of Blood & Starlight – Best Defiance of 2nd book syndrome

   (4) The Bride Wore Size 12 – Favorite Series Ender of the year

(5) Empire of Storms – BEST SERIES/Book from a series of the year

(6) A Court of Mist and Fury – BEST RHYSAND… err love interest? nope, just Best Rhysand 🙂

   (7) When We Collided – Best Book on a Mental Illness of the year

(8) Stars Above – Best HEA wedding

(9) Remembrance – Best ghost book of the year

  (10) The Name of the Wind and (11) The Wise Man’s Fear – Best scarily long books

What were your favorite books that you read this year?

Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2016 was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

Books I’ve Checked Out

    Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo | After I finished Six of Crows, I immediately put this on hold! I didn’t think I’d get it so quickly, but now I’m thinking that I won’t be able to resist this book for long. Because I need to know what happens next!!

Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins | Even though it hasn’t been horribly cold yet in CT or NY, I’m already craving the summer sun and warm summer nights. So yea, definitely checked this out for a bit of an escape.

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead | I’ve been meaning to read my Richelle Mead after LOVING both her Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series, and this one seems like a decent contender. I like the whole rich countess pretending to be a servant, and the glittering court seems like the kind of boarding school environment that I find hard to resist.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson | The hype for this book was intense when it came out, seriously everyone loved it. And yes it’s another summer book which I definitely need right about now.

Help me decide: Which one should I read next?

  Library Loot was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Six of Crows

Six of Crows combines two of my favorite things to read: books about thieves/heists and a complex and interesting fantasy world where the rules are still being discovered.

Things I Loved:

The heist plotline | I mean it had all the tropes and scenes I love, the gathering of the team, the bantering on the journey to do the heist, the reckless behaviors that could ruin the heist, and twists! Basically, it had everything I like about a good heist book and then some because these aren’t your ordinary modern characters, these are freaking fantasy characters with awesome abilities. Seriously though, all heist books forevermore should have some magic in them, someone get on that.

Building the characters | I mean don’t get me wrong, I probably fell in love with Kaz from the start since he’s this brooding bad ass thief, but his backstory is built up throughout the book and it definitely made him all the more sympathetic of a character. And Bardugo does this pretty much with ALL the main characters. Backstories are slowly unveiled throughout the book through flashbacks and character admissions. I really loved how the reader is put into the head of all the main characters since Bardugo gives them each their own POV, and it’s all done so flawlessly and makes these characters wonderfully fleshed out.

THE WORLD | Okay, so I came into this book without having read The Grisha Trilogy, so I was a bit worried that I’d have a lot to catch up on. While I did struggle a bit at the beginning, the world sort of unfolds itself in an effortless way throughout the book as you are exposed to more magic, more places, and all the different politics and wars that are going on throughout the different countries. Don’t get me wrong I definitely want to go back in read Grisha trilogy now because I’d love to know more, but I think for this book the worldbuilding is on point for what you need to know for the plotline. And I just love when worlds, even one’s that I’m not totally familiar with, grow and change with new understandings of magic.

What I Wanted More of:

The Ending! I mean okay yes it was partially perfect, like I can easily picture the end scene as a cliffhanger in a movie, but STILL! It’s definitely not the worst cliffhanger I’ve ever experienced, so there is a bit of some coming together at the end that will leave you decently satisfied BUT I just need to know more now. (Thank goodness that 1) the second book is already out and 2) it’s a duology so hopefully I’ll get the ending I so desperately need soon)

Bottom Line:

This is a wonderfully epic book that brings together the thrilling plotline of a heist and an interesting and complex fantasy world. I think that fans of Heist Society by Ally Carter would LOVE this book! And of course, I’d recommend this to YA fantasy lovers as well, particularly those who enjoy thieves, pickpockets, spies as their main characters.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Flights of Fantasy Challenge

Six of Crows was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I have so much love for Marissa Meyer and the Lunar Chronicles so I was thrilled when I was sent an ARC from Fierce Reads! And while it took me quite awhile to get fully immersed in this book, overall I enjoyed it quite a bit!

What I Liked:

BAKING, DESSERT, all the goodies. You know that you are going to be hungry throughout this whole book because it starts with this glorious description of lemon tarts… which I instantly craved despite not actually liking lemon desserts at all.

The WHIMSY. I’m not extremely familiar with Alice in Wonderland besides having watched it when I was younger. It just wasn’t a Disney movie I cared all that much about. So coming from that, I really did enjoy seeing these characters again, especially the Cheshire Cat! The way that the world was portrayed felt consistent with what I remember from the movie, and I just loved how the whimsical magical kinds of elements worked. Though, I would have appreciated a teensy bit more world building, especially when some different worlds come up.

Cath was such a relatable character, especially at the beginning. I’m by no means an expert baker, but I do like to make frosting and some desserts from scratch. So I immediately was drawn to her, and I could definitely sympathize with her wanting to choose her own path. Cath is who kept drawing me back into this book because I couldn’t predict how she was going to become such a crazy queen.

The Struggle:

I really don’t know how much to blame on the book’s pacing, which at times does drag a bit, and how much to blame on just not being in the right mood to read at various points. BUT I kept wanting to go back to this book because I was interested in Cath and I needed to know how she would become the queen.

And even though I LOVE Marissa Meyer’s writing and loved the dialogue, food descriptions, and whimsy in this book, sometimes it was hard for me to keep myself motivated to keep reading. I switched back and forth between the audiobook (the narrator is AMAZING btw) to keep things interesting, and that helped a bit. I guess it just felt a bit too long for my liking.

Bottom Line:

While Heartless wasn’t as amazing as the Lunar Chronicles, it still has a lot to offer for fans of Marissa Meyer! Through Cath, you get a wonderfully detailed and sympathetic backstory of the Queen of Hearts. I’d definitely recommend this to fans of Alice in Wonderland, whimsical magic, and lighter fantasy.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Flights of Fantasy Challenge

Heartless by Marissa Meyer was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Review: Leave Me

I really needed this book. I’ve been hardcore slumping in pretty much everything lately, but Leave Me got me excited about reading and blogging again.

I think the cover copy of this book best explains why this book appealed to me… “For every woman who has ever fantasized about driving past her exit on the highway instead of going home to make dinner, for every woman who has ever dreamed of boarding a train to a place where no one needs constant attention.” Even though I’m not a 40 something with two children and I haven’t recently suffered from a heart attack (seriously my problems are so small in comparison), this book gave me someone who I could relate to, someone who felt extremely overwhelmed and just needed to find a way to take care of herself. I feel like this book explores this other reality for everyone who wishes that they could run away just for a short while and get their crap figured out. And while I don’t think it’s the answer for everyone, I just loved seeing how everything unfolded in this book.

And honestly, Gayle Forman is just such a wonderful story teller because I quickly became invested in Maribeth’s journey, wanted to know more, and kept turning each page because I needed to know how things could ever go back to normal. Even though it’s not my typical kind of read (it’s not YA and it’s not a fluffy contemporary), I loved every minute of it.

    Review: Leave Me was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Imprudence by Gail Carriger

After binge-reading the Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series by Gail Carriger last year, I was really excited to be back in this wonderful steampunk world!

What I Loved:

The cameos! There is Alexia and Lord Maccon, Biffy, Lord Alkedama, and even some people from Parasol Protectorate who you thought you might never see again. I especially love seeing Rue interact with her parents 1) because I can’t get enough of them and 2) because I enjoy seeing how different and similar she is especially in comparison to Alexia!

The humor – It’s the dialogue, the witty banter, all the tea and discussions around clothing mishaps. Gail just exceeds in writing hilarious moments, and it pretty much makes me smile all the way through reading her books.

STEAM – Rue and Quesnel’s romantic ventures continue! And yep, they are getting mightily steamy as Rue learns more and more about all the acts of seduction and love-making.

THIS WORLD – There is just something about constantly being attacked on a dirigible and exploring the world and trying to save were-species that I find excessively addicting. I gobble up ever bit of new information and love seeing how the science of the times and their knowledge of the supernatural develop through out Gail’s books.

What Could Have Been a Bit Better:

This could have been my fault since I was so consumed with this book, but everything just felt a bit too rushed. There was plenty going on, but some parts just didn’t feel like they were given even enough time to really wrap up and left me feeling just a bit anxious about it all. View Spoiler »Like the whole switching of the alphas felt really rushed. I know that things were supposed to be building up to this point and Rue missed most of that, but emotionally I don’t think I was ready. And similarly, moving Alexia and Lord Maccon to Egypt and saying goodbye to them went by too fast. I just needed a bit more closure to do their characters justice. « Hide Spoiler

As a side note, THIS IS NOT THE LAST BOOK in the series! There are more to come, which is a relief because even though the ending is decently wrapped up, there are plenty of IMPLICATIONS on where and what could happen next! It’s not going to be until 2018 (and that’s probably the earliest it could be in my opinion).

Bottom Line:

Gail’s books always make me happy, and Imprudence is no exception! I think fans of this world are going to be happy with how this series is proceeding, and I just can’t wait to see what happens next!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Flights of Fantasy Challenge

Imprudence by Gail Carriger was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | A Spoilery Review

I have WAYYYY too many feelings about this book/script that I just can’t hold back the spoilers. Before I bid the spoiler-adverse folks adieu, I would like to say that I really did enjoy the book because it brought me back into the world and I LOVED the new characters. However, I’m not in love with this story as much as the other books because the overall plot line frustrated me at times.

Okay now, if you haven’t read the book or seen the play, farewell!

First, I just have to get some ranting out of the way. Even if it seems like I’m tearing the story apart, it’s only because I really care about the characters and the world that Rowling created. It’s totally cool if none of these things bothered you.

Why I feel Conflicted about this story

The use of the time turner feels false and slightly gratuitous. I’m not sure that it follows all the rules Rowling set up in the previous books. AND I was pretty annoyed that no one ever explained to these children that the REASON you don’t mess around with time is that it can have severe consequences. Also, if everyone and their mom is complaining/wishing that they had a time turner to fix things, you would think that maybe the newspaper or ministry would address the issue and be like… um we can’t bring back all your loved ones because if we try to it might ruin our present and make it so Voldemort would return. Like I think a PSA is necessary, come on folks. And maybe their reason for ignoring the situation is because it could put it in the minds of former death eaters, but I’m pretty sure they are already thinking it anyways, so I don’t think it would hurt.

My husband asked me if I’d feel any differently about the book if J.K. Rowling had been the one to write it completely, and honestly I think I would feel a bit betrayed if she was the sole writer/story creator. And the reason is that I honestly don’t think she would put Harry through Voldemort returning. Sure put him through the realistic angst of dealing in a post-Voldy world and adjusting to life as a dad who has dealt with some crap, but to bring back Voldemort, even an a parallel universe feels wrong. I can forgive this, since other people were involved in creating this story but part of me is still uneasy about it all.

Also, the whole Bellatrix being the mother of Voldy’s daughter thing just slightly irks me. Because when you think it about it, it presents some problems. Like was Bellatrix hiding her pregnancy all throughout the last book. Or it at least begs the question of whether or not there was some magic to accelerate the pregnancy because how could she have fit that in with all that was going on? How would no one notice it? … since she supposedly had it at Malfoy Manor.

Things I LOVED:

SCORPIUS – I’ve avoided reading other people’s reviews thus far, but I think the general consensus is that Scorpius is like the best character ever. And yep, I pretty much feel in love with him. He’s funny, bookwormy, a great friend to Albus, and just has this heart. He takes it upon himself to fix the mistakes he and Albus made with the time turner, even though he probably would have been just fine in the parallel world. He just has this goodness that is way less conflicted than some of the other characters. And I love that this trait was given to a Slytherin!

Seeing all my favorite characters again – I would say that most of the characters felt like a seamless transition from the book to this play, and I just loved it. I loved seeing Hermione as the Minister of Magic, and her interaction with Harry in the workplace. I loved getting to see the children, though I wish there would have been more Rose. And even though I appreciated Ron’s humor, I did think that he was a bit more goofy than the books (though maybe he’s just settling into his goofy dad role).

Friends and family dynamics – I loved that this story still focused on how important friends are. Scorpius and Albus are outcasts at Hogwarts, but it’s okay because they have each other. The play also emphasized being honest with yourself and your family and relying on your friends and family to help you when things just don’t make sense (or when Voldy’s offspring tries to change history and bring back Voldemort). I also really liked seeing Draco as a father because even though he was a jerk at times to Harry, he just really loves his son and is willing to do anything for him.

Bottom Line:

Even though I wasn’t 100% behind the overall plot, the characters made this story for me. And I loved being back at Hogwarts, seeing where all my characters are in life, and being introduced to Scorpius, Rose, and Albus. At the end of the day, it’s still Harry Potter, and honestly I bet it’s wonderful to see this play in person.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Flights of Fantasy Challenge

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | A Spoilery Review was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

The Sun is Also a Star

Okay so I know this doesn’t come out until November, but I just needed to share it now because I’ve been slumping lately and this book is just AMAZING.

What I Loved

The story-telling. This story is told in such an interesting way. It basically takes place within the span of the day, following the two main characters in alternating POVs BUT then there are also chapters giving insight to various other characters like the security guard, a lawyer, a receptionist. Even chapters explaining a scientific theory. It’s just really cute.

The slow-burn/ instalove thing going on. It’s kind of funny how the two main characters fall for each other. Even though it all takes place in one day and even though the GUY falls in love basically at first sight, it’s still soooo slow burny. It’s got the whole I’m going to convince you to fall in love with me, mixed with some scientific study, mixed with a semi-crotchety female who doesn’t want any of it. It’s pretty great without being pushy or weird.

Diversity! It’s about a Jamaican who’s about to be deported and Korean-American falling in love. But it doesn’t shy away from the problems that their potential relationship could and does cause with their families. It gives little insights to other characters as well, like a waitress at the Korean restaurant they eat at who has a son who longer speaks to her because she didn’t approve of his white girlfriend. It gives different sides of so many stories. It’s just really nice to see.

THE FEELS and some tears. I won’t ruin the book but there are some up and downs throughout the day on whether or not Natasha and Daniel will end up together, or even just find out each other’s last names.

And that’s it! There wasn’t anything I didn’t enjoy about this book. It took me a little longer than usual (due to my slump) but any time I cracked open this book, all I could do was smile (or tear up).

The Sun is Also a Star was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Review: Size 12 and Ready to Rock (audiobook)

So I’m pretty sure that this is only my second audiobook review (first one HERE). And it was an interesting experience to say the least. I’m not 100% sure if it increased or decreased my enjoyment levels of Size 12 and Ready to Rock, but it definitely made things different and kind of made me view characters in a new light. But more of that later.

I think what I enjoyed the most was that the mystery of the book hits a bit closer home than the other ones did and because of that we see a different side of Tania and Jordan. I loved finding out how Tania became a pop star, learning more about her music style and singing voice, and just seeing how understanding Heather is and refreshingly non-judgmental towards Tania. Also the mystery in this particular book felt more realistic somehow. Even though it had to do with reality tv and popstars with stalkers, all of that somehow seemed like it is more likely to happen in everyday life than what went down in some of the earlier books.

Positives and Negatives of Reading Size 12 and Ready to Rock via Audiobook

Some of the voices were really obnoxious, but I’ll admit that I got used to them (or they didn’t speak as much) as the book went on. It was just one narrator doing all the different voices and main voice used for Heather was completely fine. It’s just the guys voices were kind of funny, they all sort of sounded bro-y. And the higher pitched girls, especially the teenagers, were just awful. But since their voices made me cringe, I could understand why Heather found them so annoying.

For some reason the narration made the dialogue in the book seem so much more cheesy and the funny moments were less fun to me and certain characters came off as dumber and more shallow. (Since the narrator is a woman, I hoping that this isn’t some weird kind of internalized self-gender hatred going on here). That said I thought Tania’s voice was decent and gave her a vulnerability that made me more sympathetic towards her character, so there were both positives and negatives about the narration.

It took me a bit longer than usual to get my footing in this book. The beginning was supposed to be kind of disorienting towards the reader, but because I was reading it in a decently unfamiliar format (I don’t listen to too many audiobooks, though I’m sure that will change with my new commute) and hadn’t listened to any of the other books in this series via audiobook, the beginning was pretty confusing for me.

Even though I had some problems with the narration, eventually I was able to get over them and just focus on the story. And since the story itself was do enjoyable and the narration had some redeeming qualities, I really liked this book.

Bottom Line:

Size 12 and Ready to Rock was a super fun read despite any problems I had with the narration. I would definitely recommend it to fans who have enjoyed the other Heather Wells books, and to fans of Meg Cabot in general. I’m definitely planning to keep reading the rest of the series!

Review: Size 12 and Ready to Rock (audiobook) was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Review: The Crown

I hate calling the Selection series a guilty pleasure because it truly has some wonderful moments, so I don’t want to discount it. Maybe one of the reasons why I think this series leans on more of the guilty pleasure side of things for me is that there are just some things I overlook so that I don’t get caught up in critiquing it, and can just focus on enjoying it for what it is. That all said I really enjoyed The Crown!

The Crown by Kiera Cass

What I liked:

Ah the feels | Towards the end of the book I was definitely starting to get emotional. I just couldn’t foresee how anything was going to turn out right for Eadlyn, and there is this lovely father-daughter moment between her and Maxon. Plus Maxon reveals a bit more to Eadlyn about his childhood and there is this reveal that I just didn’t expect.

The Guys! | This book shows off more of the Selection men, and goes a bit deeper into the ones we’ve already been exposed to. While I wasn’t always happy with how Eadlyn didn’t really get to know most of the men, for the ones she did start to care about, she took care of them all and treated them respectfully.

LOVE | I wasn’t sure if a love story was ever really going to be developed for Eadlyn, but it is! And even though it kind of goes the route of a forbidden love troupe and was a bit rushed at moments, it made since for her. Looking back, there were some slow-burny and it was one of the few guys I enjoyed.

Josie | I was happy that she was developed a tiny bit more as a character, something more than just the annoying little sister who wants to be a princess.

What I Sort of Overlooked a Bit:

The pacing is a bit off in general. Things really pick up towards the end, but there are some lagging parts through out the book.

Some plot points are always the best developed. We’ve got a couple new characters, and while their back stories are given it just felt a little underdeveloped at times.

Bottom Line:

I thought The Crown was a really good end to Eadlyn’s story. The romance and even the political stuff wrapped up nicely (even though it was a bit quick). I think if you’ve been a fan of series thus far you won’t be disappointed with this conclusion.

Review: The Crown was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Catching Up: The crazy chaos that is moving

Catching Up on Life

It seems like any time things have really slowed down in my blogging and reading life it’s because my life is just insanity. Plenty of good things  have happened since the last time we caught up, but family drama and extreme amounts of travel have left me drained. And even though this next month or so is probably going to be extremely busy due to more travel and packing up and moving half way across the country, I’m determined to let you all know what’s been going on:

(Sorry in advance for the novel below)

– One of my cats, Everett, got a super scary bump on his side. This was a few weeks after he went in to have a tooth removed which involved putting him under anesthesia and getting a delayed release pain killer that last for a few days. He’s really had it rough lately, but the bump was just a really delayed reaction from were he was given a shot from the surgery and it’s been getting smaller and smaller over the past month, so I think we are almost in the clear. But man when I found it I was convinced he had cancer, and all the internet research I did about cancer that can develop from shots DID NOT HELP.

-Moving company searching: This was the worst because my husband couldn’t really help me out because he was busy studying for an intense exam for a specific certification for his career. So I was doing tons of research about the horrors of moving companies, how they can hold you stuff hostage, and just really struggling to weed out the good ones from the bad ones. But my research paid off and I was able to get 4 different companies to come in and do in-home estimates, but even that was stressful to get off of work for. And we were waffling between paying crazy amounts of money or doing the move our self, but the last mover who did an estimate was so helpful and was within our budget that it was such a relief to have that checked off our list!

-And then there was apartment hunting: We were going to try to do it all over the phone, but a weekend opened up in a schedule and so we flew out to NY and CT for a 36 hour trip. Like I said, my life has been insane. But we were successful in finding a beautiful apartment in Stamford, CT and I can’t wait to live there!

– Extreme amounts of family drama that have completely wrecked me emotionally. I usually have pretty low expectations of my family because experience has taught me not to rely on them for much, but I let myself hope that they’d want to say goodbye and support me. And while some there are some extenuating circumstances, and some have apologized, I’m just tired of trying with them.

– I went to BookCon!! I was bummed that I couldn’t make BEA work this year, especially since it was nearby but I took 2 of my college friends to it and it was a pretty good time. I got Meg Cabot, Sarah J. Maas, and Susan Dennard to sign some things, but I came up empty handed in terms of ARCs. The ARCs that I really wanted required one of those coveted autographing wristbands, which I didn’t get early enough to even attempt to get. But the panels were awesome, and it was fun to spend some time my friends.

– Where I am right now? I’m just a stress ball because we don’t have that much packed, only have two weekends left, one of which I’ll be in CO for a wedding. (Also I have been in a different state for the past 4 weekends, soooo chaos). I’m excited, anxious, freaking out, and just a bit overwhelmed… so reading and blogging have been suffering because of it. But I promise once I get settled down in my new apartment that I’ll do my best to get back on track!

Catching Up on Reading/Blogging

::crickets:: Didn’t realize just how bad the past few months had been until I made this table 🙁

Books I Read:

Favorite of the Bunch: (excluding rereads)

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard Boomerang by Noelle August Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell Big Boned by Meg Cabot When We Collided by Emery Lord A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz  

Honorable Mention:

When We Collided by Emery Lord

2016 Stats

Total books read: 25 Total pages read: 9813 Average rating: 4.6 Adult: 28% YA:64% NA: 8% Genres:  28% Contemporary | 56% Fantasy | 8% Paranormal | 4% Sci-Fi | 4% Retelling

  2016 Challenge Progress

16 books read | 53% completed towards Flights of Fantasy | goodreads shelf

10 books read | 50% completed towards Re-Read Challenge | goodreads shelf

10 books read | 48% completed towards #ShelfLove Challenge | goodreads shelf

9 books read | 82% completed towards Tamora Pierce Challenge | goodreads shelf

Catch me up on your life!

Catching Up: The crazy chaos that is moving was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Review: Once Upon a Dream | Giveaway

I had kind of a slow start to Once Upon a Dream, but once it got going I really enjoyed this twisted version of Sleeping Beauty.

My Review

My main struggle at the beginning of the book was figuring out exactly what was supposed to be the dream and what actually happened to Aurora Rose. In hindsight, it definitely made me sympathize with Aurora Rose because she kind of goes through the same struggle trying to figure out what is the truth within her dream world and the real world.

But after the first 100 pages or so, I definitely found my barrings in this book and was able to really appreciate Aurora Rose as a character. She’s been through a lot and she’s become this complicated character who is strong and vulnerable, silly and determined. And I just loved seeing a more feminist kind of Aurora Rose who doesn’t really need a prince to save her. She definitely saves the prince a quite a few times. She’s definitely struggling throughout the book to figure out who she is and if she actually loves the prince and what everything will mean if they get out of the dream world.

I also really appreciated how this book delved into mental illness and depression. It was really interesting to see how that shaped Aurora’s subconscious and what takes place in the dream world.

Also, the ending is really intense and Aurora turns into this badass and I’m SOOOO happy with how everything resolves. It wasn’t your stereotypical happily ever after, but shippers won’t be too upset either :).

Bottom Line:

Despite taking a little while for me to get fully immersed into this book, once I did I really enjoyed all the different complexities with the dream world, remembering, mental illness, and love at first sight! This book definitely isn’t afraid defying expectations in an interesting way! I’d definitely recommend this book to those who love Disney movies and fairy tale retellings, and those who like to see awesome character development!

I reviewed this book as part of the Once Upon a Dream Book Tour, hosted by Irish Banana.

Tour Schedule:

Week 1:

4/4: Such A Novel Idea – Top 10

4/5: Swoony Boys Podcast – Character Interview

4/6: Tina the Bookworm – Review

4/7: Big Books & Grande Lattes – Guest Post

4/8: Paperback Princess – Review

  Week 2:

4/11: The Irish Banana Review – Q&A

4/12: A Bottomless Bookbag – Review

4/13: Who R U Blog -Novel Secrets

4/14: Emily Reads Everything – Review

4/15: Reading Is Better With Cupcakes – Pocket Letter

ABOUT LIZ BRASWELL:

After the sort of introverted childhood you would expect from a writer, Liz earned a degree in Egyptology at Brown University and then promptly spent the next ten years producing video games. Finally she caved into fate and wrote Snow and Rx under the name Tracy Lynn, followed by The Nine Lives of Chloe King series under her real name, because by then the assassins hunting her were all dead. She also has short stories in Geektastic and Who Done It and a new series of reimagined fairy tales coming out, starting with A Whole New World—a retelling of Aladdin.

She lives in Brooklyn with a husband, two children, a cat, a part-time dog, three fish and five coffee trees she insists will start producing beans any day. You can email her at [email protected].

LINKS: Website | Twitter | Facebook

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Once Upon a Dream | Giveaway was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Review: Boomerang

This book is the swooniest, steamiest, and definitely my kind of New Adult fiction. Seriously, though I tend to struggle with NA books, but this one does everything right.

What I Liked

Both of the main characters had distinct ambitions. Ethan is just trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life and is struggling with money. Mia knows what she wants in terms of her career, but she’s still trying to figure out her artistic voice. They both have reasons for wanting the job at the end of the internship.

There is relationship baggage. Mia and Ethan weren’t treated well in their previous relationships, but as the story goes on they each figure out what they need and what they want out of a relationship with the help of their exes and friends. I think this is the part of the story that I found so refreshing because they figured out their shit on their own BEFORE choosing to be in a relationship.

We can’t be together trope! Ordinarily this trope could cause me to give some side eye, especially if it’s done too dramatically, BUT this book does it soooo wonderfully! I think what makes it great is that they had their one night, so we KNOW something clicked initially. And the internship is a short-term problem. Only one of them can get the job at the end, and while that might cause some tensions throughout the story, it means that EVENTUALLY the whole no-dating a co-worker policy thing won’t be a problem.

Remembering the night before flash backs! We get their romantic night in pieces, and every second is WONDERFUL. I kept me wanting to know more about the night, but it also tied into the plot so well!

Ethan coaching a team of 9 year olds was really cute. The sub-plot that went along with Ethan’s coaching, and a particular little boy who was struggling, and the side romance that blossoms, was just so much cuteness! 

THE SWOONS AND STEAMY SEXY-TIMES. This book is AMAZINGLY swoony. And it’s all spread out and slowly revealed because of the flashbacks, but YES. With angst of not being able to be together plus the steamy first night reveals, this book was just filled with sexual tension and some awesome sexy times.

What I Didn’t Like

The only reason I deducted half a star was because I felt like the ending was a bit abrupt. I just wanted it to go on and on. So I was super bummed when it just ENDED **sobs**.

Bottom Line

Even though, I wasn’t ready for the ending, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, fun, and steamy contemporary!

Any other NA recommendations for a hard-to-please NA reader?

Review: Boomerang was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Let's Talk: Annoying Book Tropes #ShelfLove

I’m participating in the #ShelfLove Challenge this year! And along with focusing on reading my own books, the hosts have also provided monthly discussion prompts. March’s prompt is…

What is one book trope that gets on your nerves? What do you wish the publishing world would STOP doing?

Hmmmm some tropes that bother me are…

The tragic tortured bad boy in most NA books. Either he’s secretly a softy and only the main character can get through all his rough edges to see his TRUTH, or he’s tragic and tortured and gives him the right to treat everyone like crap, or be abusive, and usually the relationship between him and the love interest is toxic or overly dramatic.

Teacher/Student Romance. I don’t really see this any of the contemporary YA I read, and I have forgiven it in fantasy books and I probably would in historical fiction too, but I despise this trope in TV, especially Ezria in PLL.

But honestly, even after scouring tvtropes.org I’m having a hard time coming up with tropes that I hate because often there is a version of it that I actually enjoy. I don’t mind love triangles, special snowflake main characters, instalove, missing parent syndrome, and so many others. As long as it’s well-written, nuanced, seems somewhat realistic or consistent for a character, then I can really enjoy some of those tropes. Yea, there are times that some of them may annoy me, like when a character can’t make up there own mind in a love triangle, or things are falling too easily into place because of a trope, but often that isn’t solely the tropes fault. I think it’s up to the author to use a trope in an interesting way.

My Challenge Progress:

I’ve read 10 out of 30, so I think I’m pretty much on track. However, only one of those books was one that I hadn’t read before…. I love rereading books I own, but I definitely need to start picking up those books that have been on my shelves forever and I still haven’t read!

  Let’s Talk: Annoying Book Tropes #ShelfLove was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag

[abottomlessbookbag]

Mini Review: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either

I’m really enjoying the Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells series! I waited far too long in giving her adult books a try.

I liked that it had a light approach to a pretty gruesome murder mystery – I don’t consider myself a mystery lover by any means, though I do appreciate Sherlock and some light thrillers. But this series is seriously making me think that maybe there is a whole chick-lit kind of mystery genre out in the world that I haven’t really given a chance. The mystery in this book is pretty dark in some aspects (I mean they find a girl’s head boiling in a pot of water at the beginning), but the way that Heather approaches it and the humor used to the lighten the mood doesn’t make it seem as dire.

However, the size shaming in this book was pretty problematic. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but it’s definitely something that bothered me. I don’t think that it is the author’s intent at all, but the way Heather’s insecurities with her own body weight are presented and the way she refers to other women who are skinny is just awful. One example is when she’s at a frat party, she refers to the women at the party by their assumed clothing size :-/

I’m still planning on continuing with this series, but I’m really hoping that Heather’s character development in future books makes her less prone to size shaming herself and others.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for someone who’s new to chick-lit light mysteries!

Mini Review: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either was originally published on A Bottomless Book Bag